Man Injured On Harry Potter Roller Coaster

Man Possibly Blinded While Riding 'Dragon Challenge'

Universal theme park in Orlando shut down the "Dragon Challenge" roller coaster on Sunday after a man was injured and possibly blinded.

Carlos Montalvo told Local 6 he and his wife were on vacation from Puerto Rico but said by phone from his hospital bed, "This is not a vacation. This is a nightmare."

Montalvo said they were in the front row of the ride inside the Harry Potter attraction when he says something hit him in his right eye. He still does not know what hit him, but said it happened just as the two coasters veered near each other. He remembers the pain he felt as he rode the rest of the ride screaming and wounded.

Universal reopened "Dragon Challenge" around 1:30 on Monday after determining the ride is safe.

A statement from Universal spokesman Tom Schroder went on to say, "We have also spent the hours since then thoroughly inspecting and re-inspecting the ride, the ride vehicles, the tracks and the area underneath the tracks. We have found absolutely nothing that could have contributed to this incident."

As Montalvo remains in the hospital, his brother told Local 6 he's a nurse back home, already had one bad eye, and whatever hit him may have taken his remaining good eye.

Montalvo said nobody else knew what happened, but his wife sitting next to him was in shock.

Universal said it will do what it can to help this family and said nothing like this has ever happened on this ride since it opened under another name in 1999.

Montalvo contacted an attorney at the law firm of Morgan and Morgan, although it is unclear whether he intends to seek legal action against the theme park operator.

Copyright 2011 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.